A celebration of earthy ingredients & real food

low Carb

I love tomato soup, but struggle sometimes to make one which is not overly acidic.

Which is why I came up with the idea of sundried tomatoe soup: D! Ok, and then I looked online and realized half the world is making it.

The final soup which you have here is a low carb team up of creamed cauliflower paired with strident sun dried tomatoes. The reason for this is…. While low carb creamed cauliflower soup may be all the rage and look just like potato soup to trick us – I often finds it tastes a little bit like… ass.

Sundried tomatoes on the other hand do not taste like ass at all, and are quite a domineering ingredient. They interrupt the cauliflower stinkyness beautifully.

To get the most out of my sundried tomatoes, I used the ones which are soaked in olive oil. I then used the olive oil in the soup to richen it up.

How to Make Sundried Tomato Soup

When making tomato soup with sundried tomatoes, it is important to simmer the dried tomatoes until they are soft before blending them. You could do this with all of the other soup ingredients or separately. I prefer to do this separately, as it gives more control over the cooking time of each part of the soup, and give one a chance to make a roux.

This is the method I use to make sundried tomato soup:

Steam the sun dried tomatoes until soft.

Add the cauliflower and steam. Blend.

Make a roux.

Combine the two pots and allow to simmer briefly.

Its pretty simple, but I thought I would just outline it here quickly because the recipe instructions can make this seem more complicated than it is.

Instructions

First off place your sundried tomatoes into a large pot with 3 cups of water. Simmer them until they have softened.

While the tomatoes are simmering and softening, chop the cauliflower up roughly and dice the onions, tomato and garlic.

Once the sun dried tomatoes are soft, add the chopped cauliflower to this pot and allow them to steam up until soft. Do not overcook them, as then you can get that stinky ‘overcooked cauliflower’ aroma setting in.

In a separate large pot, heat the butter and tomato oil. To this add the diced onions and fry on high. Add the diced tomatoes and continue to fry. After a few moments add the flour. Stir this through, allowing the flour to brown slightly.

Now add 3 cups of water and stir while this thickens.

Take the cauliflower pot off of the stove and blend this together with the remaining 3 cups of water.

Add the blended cauliflower and sundried tomatoes to your roux pot.

Add all other ingredients including salt and pepper to taste and allow to simmer together for 1 minute. If you think that the soup should be a little richer, you can also add a little extra olive oil.

Notes

For vegan options: Replace the butter with a generous slug of olive oil. Replace the 1 cup milk with stock or water, or a nut milk.
For gluten free options: Replace the flour for thickening with cornstarch by combining 2 tablespoons cornstarch in a small cup with enough cold / room temp water to make a paste. Stir this slurry until all lumps are out with a fork and add this to the soup. You will not add flour to the onions, simply fry them - add water and then add the cornstarch mix and continue with recipe.

Today I want to share you my experience making flaxseed ‘breads’. I started out with a recipe with stated that by mixing ground flaxseed and eggs – you could get a pillowy dinner roll.

Needless to say, after I had tried the recipe – I did not have a pillowy bread roll. I had round flat cakes, or ‘breads’. I felt scammed!

I was highly disappointed and disillusioned, but I ate a couple of my rock cakes anyways.

And they were actually really good. Once I had gotten over the illusion of getting soft doughy buns from ground up flax seeds, I was actually very happy with them. I remade them a couple times, and even used them for what they were intended – in my Blood Building Beet Burgers recipe.

I am now thoroughly addicted to these little flaxseed breads, and just can’t bake enough to last until we next have beet burgers! In the interim I have also discovered a great addition – crushed garlic. It makes them so good. Really savory and delicious.

Besides being savory and fillings, these flaxseed breads are also super nutritious.

Nutritional Density of Flaxseeds

Flaxseeds are incredibly nutritionally dense and are literally packed with fibre and omega 3 fats. They also contain good amounts of protein, vitamin B1, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, selenium and copper.

Flaxseed are very low in carbs, so if you are trying to lower your carb intake as well as follow a gluten free diet – then these might be for you.

Tips on How to Make Flax Seed Cakes / Breads

Before we go to the recipe, I just want to outline a couple tips I stumbled on while making these breads / cakes.

Grind up your flax seeds super fine. This helps to give a bread-like texture. If you leave whole bits in, the cakes will be more chewy, and have a slimy texture to them!

Wet your hands when working with the dough. It really helps to stop the flaxseed mix from getting stuck to your hands.

Always allow some time for the mix to stand before baking. +- 10 minutes.

If you find your mix a little sloppy and not a nice stiff consistency – simple add a little more ground flax seeds until it is closer to a thick consistency. Then allow the mix to stand, this will help to stiffen it further.

Note on the garlic: If you like to eat honey or jam on your regular bread – then you can omit the garlic. However if you like garlic and are happy with a savory bread, it lends itself really well to the flavor of the flaxseed bread / cakes.

Ok, that is all of my cooking wisdom for the week. Enjoy the weekend everybody!

Instructions

Burger ‘Bun’ Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 F – 180 C and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Mix dry ingredients together.

Add in the butter and press into the ground flax seeds with a spoon.

If you have a stick blender, combine the eggs and the peeled cloves of garlic and whizz until the eggs are frothy. If you do not have a stick blender. beat the eggs with an electric egg beater, and chop the garlic.

Add the water, bicarbonate of soda and apple cider vinegar to the eggs.

Add the egg and garlic to the dry ingredient and allow the mix to sit for at least 5 minutes. This allows the flaxseeds to hydrate and release their stickiness.

Coat your hands with water and divide the mix into 6 equal portions.

Roll these into balls in you hands, and then place them onto the baking sheet and press them down lightly so that they can form flatter circles.

Sprinkle the tops with poppyseeds and . You can press the seeds in lightly with your fingers, to keep them from rolling off the top after baking.

Place the sheet into the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes.

Once done, remove from the oven and allow the ‘buns’ to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

They are vegetarian, full of nutrients, and come with an easy recipe for a high protein and gluten free flax seed ‘bun’.

About Flaxseed Buns

Before we go any further, I want to talk about these flaxseed ‘buns’. I found a super simple recipe for ‘dinner rolls’ from Hemsley and Hemsley. All that was required were eggs and ground flaxseed. And the picture showed the rolls being big and fluffy looking.

Well, as the old saying goes looks can be deceiving. After making the rolls strictly according to instructions, what I got was flat little ‘cakes’, not pillowy buns!

I shelved my disappointed and flaxseed rolls (in a sealed container), and proceeded to continue my burger recipe testing process using a regular bun recipe in the bread machine. As in, not gluten free, and full of refined white carbs.

Why the Flaxseed ‘Buns’ Work with These Beet Burger Patties

Fortunately, on my second testing of this beet burger patty recipe I decided to just cut one of my flaxseed cakes in half and try it with a patty inside.

And… it was so good! The flavors worked really well together, the flaxseed savoriness complemented the earthy salty sweetness of the beet patties perfectly.

The other thing is that I found that these flat little ‘buns’ actually make for a much more ‘eatable’ burger because you can get your mouth around them to get a good bite. Which also means that you can really load up your burger with extra’s like pickles, lettuce, tomato, onion, feta cheese, lettuce etc.

If you want to have a thicker and bulkier bun, then what you can also do is skip slicing the flax ‘buns’ in half. Simply use two, – one for the top and one for the bottom. You should then end up with quite a high burger.

Why These Beet Burgers are so Healthy

Besides being super tasty and hearty – the other great thing about these burgers is that are literally packed with nutrients, protein and fibre.

Health Benefits of Beetroots

In keeping with their intense color, beetroots are known for their blood building qualities. This is due to the iron and nitrate content of beets. While one cup of beetroot contains merely 1,1 mg of iron, for some reason it is in a highly bioavailable form, which is why beet juice is such a popular treatment for anemia.

As for the nitrates in beets, they are the same as the nitrates found in leafy green vegetables – one of the elements of greens which makes them so good for us! Once taken up by the body, nitrates are stored in the blood, and have a positive impact on circulation, heart and blood health.

Besides being a blood builder, beets are also known to be a blood purifier. This is because beets boost the body’s levels of glutathione, thought by some to be the number one antioxidant in the human body.

In addition to building and cleansing the blood, beets also contain good levels of vitamin C, fibre, potassium, manganese and certain B vitamins.

Health Benefits of Flaxseeds

Flaxseeds are highly nutrient dense, contain rich levels of Omega 3 and antioxidants and are full of fibre and protein.

A 28 gram (3 ) serving of flaxseeds contains the followings:

Omega 3 fats + 200%

Fibre 22%

Protein 7 %

Vitamin B1 31%

Manganese 35%

Magnesium 30%

Phosphorus 19%

Selenium 10%

Copper 30%

That is some serious nutrition right there! Combine this with a beetroot burger patty, some crispy lettuce and generous dollopings of kale pesto – and it’s really a powerhouse meal. : )

Which are my favorite kind of recipe to bring to you – so let’s get to exactly that. The RECIPE.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F – 180 C and line two sheet pans with parchment paper.

Mix dry ingredients and add in the well beaten egg and the water.

Now allow the mix to sit for at least 5 minutes. This allows the flaxseeds to hydrate and release their stickiness.

Coat your hands with water and divide the mix into 12 equal portions.

Roll these into balls in you hands, and then place them onto the baking sheets and presse them down lightly so that they can form flatter circles.

Sprinkle the tops with poppyseeds. You can press the seeds in lightly with your fingers, to keep them from rolling off the top after baking.

Slip the two sheets into the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes.

Once done, remove from the oven and allow the ‘buns’ to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Burger Patty Mixture Instructions:

If have not cooked your lentils yet, do this first according to your lentil package instructions.

While the lentils are cooking, peel and grate your beets, using a coarse grater.

Transfer the grated beetroot to a pot with a tablespoons of olive oil. Toss continuously over a medium heat until the beet bits have softened a little.

Add the flaxseed let stand for 5 minutes.

Then add all other ingredients. In you have not beaten the eggs yet – what I do is simple whip them up in a mug with a fork. This works fine – no need to get out the electric beater.

Mix all together until well combined.

Cooking the Patties:

Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a skillet.

Drop in two very heaped tablespoons of the mixture, and press down and shape gently into a round using the tablespoon. Do as many of these as will fit in your pan.

Cook on a medium heat, and add extra oil if needed.

I find that the patties taste best if fried slowly, until some browning / blackening starts to occur.

After cooking, transfer to a baking sheet in the oven to keep warm until assemble the burgers

Assembling the Burgers:

To assemble the burgers, what I do is butter the ‘buns’ and layer on lettuce, the patties, some pesto (in my case some de-bittered kale pesto), some milk kefir, and some extra black pepper. What we also found can make a great addition is fetta cheese. Yum!

Of course you can add anything you want. Tomatoes, onion, a few fries, pickles etc. Let me know if you make these and come up with any great combos!

Sometime ago I went through a phrase when I was convinced that low carb eating was the answer. Thankfully with time I have a more balanced view on things, and once again eat bread if I feel like it, potatoes like a crazy person, and noodles in moderation. In actual fact, I struggle so much with persistent nausea (sometimes I think I should have called this blog The Nauseous Kitchen), that if a potato is all I want to eat, I am damn well going to eat that potato and be happy. I can’t see myself gaining weight when getting queasy half way through all meals! So I think I am in the safe zone.

But besides weight and health issues, sometimes I just don’t actually want to eat bread. Sometimes I just want crunch and freshness, but maybe something a little more grounding that a salad.

And so here are my coz lettuce and tuna ‘sandwiches’.

There has been some gorgeous flat leafed coz lettuce coming from the farm’s garden, and it works wonderfully to house the tuna. You can use any lettuce which has reasonably flat leaves. Big baby spinach might also work.

What I like about this recipe is that you can pack these up into a lunch box for an on the go lunch, which you can eat with your hands. Just pack a serviette as well, incase you get any tuna on your fingers. You could also place a couple layers on top of each other, and wrap these in parchment paper for a real ‘takeout style’ lunch box meal.

And I just had to give it a go! So in between my pumpkin adventures (we won’t talk about the cheese spread), I whipped up a bowl of flourless pancake batter. With a chocolaty twist!

All I used were four eggs, two bananas, 1 cup cocoa and 4 tablespoons of sugar. The cooking of these pancakes were slightly less effortless, but at the end of the batch I had it down. Let me share my tips.

At first turning the pancakes was tricky. They were browning too fast at the bottom, but were not quite cooked enough to turn. I found that lowering the heat was the best way to get the pancakes to a cooked consistency for turning. I also used a cake lifter instead of the spatula for the flipping.

Beware, the pancakes come out incredibly dark. As long as you have the flame on medium low, then they are probably not burnt. The cocoa gives a very dark color to begin with, and banana browns very quickly – so don’t freak out and think that the pancakes are not worth serving. Trust me they are!

Once I had finished the batter and had a nice big stack of pancakes piled up, I chopped up a juicy pear. I plunked the slices on top, and looked around for something to use as cream. No cream on hand, so I decided to implement a little brain wave I discovered in December.

I took out some coconut oil, and beat it in a jug with a small amount of water. This causes the fat to emulsify, back into cream! I think one could do it with butter and water as well, but I must still try that one. I love this hack, because there are some situations where cream is absolutely necessary. Like for chocolate pancakes. But I am not one of those cultured souls that have a container of cream as a permanent feature in the refrigerator (sometimes I wish I was).

The other thing that I love about ‘making my own cream’ from coconut oil – is that it is vegan!

Anyway, I plopped a large dollop on top on my pancake pile, made a pot of coffee and called the Troll. We sat down on the veranda and proceeded to gobble down the chocolate pancakes.

The Troll pronounced them very good, and asked me what was in them. When I told him that they were flourless, then he said ‘So they are basically just eggs and cocoa?’ to which I replied ‘Yes, with two bananas.’

He said that that was weird, and it meant that we were practically eating a chocolate omelette. Which I couldn’t argue. However he soon forgot about any weirdness and finished the pile with gusto. With me helping of course. At some point we decided that we should really call these low carb chocolaty pancakes chomelletes!

Oh sorry, my spelling has been corrected – apparently its chomlets. Much more chic in Troll Universe.

Anyway, last thing before I leave you with the recipe, don’t leave out the pear! It was the bomb. ; )

This recipe is perfect for a weeknight rush dinner -which just happens to be veggie loaded and super healthy : D.

If you have some quick cook Couscous, then you are in luck, If not, then you might have to take a little extra time to cook the couscous.

The secret vegetable in this recipe is grated cauliflower. Noticed the cauliflower rice rage? I decided it was the perfect thing to hide in a big plate of couscous… meaning less carbs, and more nutrition!

As for the other veggies, you can use whatever you have in the fridge, but I used tomatoes and leeks to give a mediterranean flavor.

Before doing anything else, combine your couscous with hot water as per directions on the box. I only used a cup – for a meal for 4! Which works out to a quarter cup per person of carbs – and the rest of the plate all veggies (unbeknownst to the unsuspecting eater: P).

While the couscous is swelling, slice up the leeks finely. Leeks have a penchant to be tough if not thoroughly cooked, so the fine slicing helps with this. Also, make sure that you wash out any sand from between the leaves. Nothing worse than chomping on sand with dinner -and leeks love yielding up sand far into the stalk sometimes!

Slice the tomatoes in quarters, and then halve the quarters again. Put these into a large pan with olive oil and set on the heat. Allow them to bubble and sizzle in the olive oil until they are browned.

While the tomatoes are browning, chop the peppers into large squares. Peel and crush the garlic.

Grab the cauliflower and grate it onto a spare plate.

By this time the couscous and tomatoes should be ready. Remove the tomatoes from the pan. Add in the leeks and stir fry them for a minute, then add the cauliflower and pepper pieces. Continue to stir fry for a few minutes, then add in couscous, garlic and herbs. Toss this for a few minutes. Add the tomato back in and you are done.

I served this with some balsamic vinegar to dash on top. You could add it in while in the pan – but it does make the couscous discolor.

Instructions

Combine the couscous and hot water and allow to soak for as long as directed on the box.

Wash well and slice up the leeks finely.

Slice the tomatoes into 8ths.

Pan fry these in a large skillet with the olive oil until brown.

While the tomatoes are browning, crush the garlic and slice the pepper into squares. Also, grate the cauliflower onto a plate.

When the tomatoes are done, remove them. Add in the leeks to the pan, and stir fry them for half a minute. Now add in the cauliflower and pepper. Continue to stir fry for a moment or two. Add in the couscous, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper. Toss until well combined.